Civic body launches video appealing all to join hands in fight against dengue

Kolkata: Kolkata Municipal Corporation on Saturday launched a short video with appeal to Calcuttans to join hands with the civic body in its fight against dengue. The campaign "10 minutes one day" (Ek Din Dosh Minute), is an initiative of KMC's, Chairman, Board of Administrators Firhad Hakim urges the citizens to devote ten minutes in a single day in a week for keeping his/her own premises clean to curb the spread of dengue.

"Some basic measures by the residents like not allowing stagnant water in and around the house, removal of unused vehicle tyres lying infront of their houses, cleaning of flower pots in garden or on roofs to ensure non accumulation of water can do wonders when it comes to moving towards a dengue free city. If every single citizen follow these simple steps then the spread of dengue can be curbed," said Hakim.

He maintained that KMC will soon launch this campaign by reaching out to people through leaflets, banners, posters and miking apart from the social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The coordinators of the wards will monitor the awareness activities about dengue in their respective wards.

"The KMC has been playing its part in disposal of garbage and other cleanliness measures but it is difficult for our staffs to enter into premises of buildings to check whether water is lying stagnant or garbage is piling up. Maintaining norms of social distancing for COVID-19 is also acting as a barrier for the health workers to enter into building premises at will for spreading larvacide," said a senior Health department official.

The KMC has opened 15 Dengue clinics in the city where blood tests are done free of cost. Moreover, there are 144 urban health centres where expert doctors examine the patients free.

The civic authorities have urged people to get in touch with its health department if they are found to be suffering from temperature accompanied by body ache and nausea. To combat dengue a close cooperation between the people and civic authorities is needed. "Unless the people are aware and follow the dos and don'ts issued by KMC it is difficult to check spreading of the disease," said an official.